In This Issue
1) Free Articles & Demonstrations
2) Artist Spotlite - Interview With Artist Charles Griffith
3) Current Art Contests & Competitions
4) Artist Workshops
5) This Month's Product Spotlite
6) Click Here For a Great Selection of Discount Art Supplies.
7) Click Here For a Great Selection of Art & Craft Instruction Books.
8) Click Here For a Great Selection of Art Instruction Videos.
9) Get Active In The Discussion Forums.
10) Provide us with your feedback.
Free Articles & Demonstrations
These demonstrations include high quality images. Please be patient while all images load in your browser. Thanks!
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Step By Step Painting - "Azzizawings"
This painting started with a photo-shoot with the beautiful and exotic model, Azziza who is also a belly dancer. She has a variety of really cool costumes and I loved this one with the wings. I will use 4 or 5 of these photos for reference for the painting...
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Painting Horses in Landscape with Figures
This painting lesson will show you how I move from an original idea, through the entire process as I paints an equine subject in my studio.
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What Does Creativity Bring to Your Life?
In my 2004 e-book, The Creativity Interviews (details below), I asked 7 questions about the creative process to 19 creative artists from a variety of disciplines. One of these questions was "what does creativity bring to your life?" As I'm looking through the answers with new eyes, themes start to pop up in front of me. As you read through these broad themes, and the actual phrases spoken by the artists in the book, consider which ones you identify with most.
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Easy Tips For Figure Drawing Like the Masters in Minutes
Drawing people and faces is not very hard to do. Well, that's not one hundred percent accurate if you want to achieve a likeness to the person that you are drawing. This is very challenging and hard to do because each person is unique and poses their own individuality. Figure drawing and drawing faces is an artists ultimate challenge because of this uniqueness, everyone is different. Mastering the human form can be difficult but with these tips, it may be a little easier.
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From Amateur Photographer to Professional Photographer - From Love to Profit is Not Guaranteed
Five years ago I returned to the world of photography after a 20 year absence. Then I was a 'struggling-professional' photographer. I gave a face to the following type jokes: Question - What's the difference between a professional photographer and a McDonald's family-pack happy meal? Answer - The happy meal can feed a family of four.
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Do you have any articles, tips or tutorials that you would like to share?
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Artist
Spotlite
Interview With Artist: Charles Griffith
Charles Griffith's interest in art began as a child. By the age of thirteen, he was already learning the fundamentals of draughtsmanship by copying the drawings of Michelangelo and other Renaissance masters. During this time he was encouraged not only by his family but also by his high school art teacher. Later, while serving with the U.S. Army in West Germany he was able to visit some of the great museums of Europe, such as the Louvre in Paris and the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Experiencing the work of the Old Masters firsthand made a lasting impact on him.
Then, while recuperating from an injury, he began a serious study of drawing, design and painting, studying and taking notes from art-related books in his local library, which led him in the direction of his current creative endeavors, a contemporary interpretation of Traditional Realism. Inspired by such artists as El Greco, Caravaggio, and artists as diverse as the European Expressionists and Surrealists, Charles Griffith has created a large selection of works over the years in oil, acrylic, pen and ink, charcoal, watercolor and pastel, covering a wide range of themes and subject matter, ranging from traditional motifs to the fantastic.
"A Winter's Day"
acrylic on canvas panel
18" x 24"
By Charles Griffith
Click Here for a full sized image of this painting.
The Interview
Q - What medium or mediums do you work with?
A - In recent years I've concentrated mainly on oil and acrylic on canvas, but I've used watercolor, charcoal, pastel, pen and ink, colored pencil and graphite. Currently I'm doing a series of pen and ink drawings, sometimes with watercolor or colored pencil added for a touch of color.
Q - How long have you been an artist?
A - I've been drawing since I was about 13 years old, but I only began painting about 15 years ago.
Q - Do you have any formal training or are you self taught?
A - I am almost completely self-taught. I had 1 year of art class in high school, but taught myself the basics of drawing, design, composition and painting later in life by checking out one art book after another at my local library.
Q - Do you have any favorite art supplies that you would like to recommend??
A - I have largely used Dick Blick supplies, because of the quality and the affordability of their products.
Q - Do you work with any specific styles or subject matter?
A - I work in a realistic, representational style, although I have occasionally worked in more modern styles. I find realism more rewarding and challenging. There is more diversity in my choice of subject matter, though; from landscape to figurative work, from traditional subjects to fantasy and the macabre.
Q - Can you recommend any books, videos or other resources that will help new artists?
A - A lot of good information and instructional materi al can be found on the Internet these days; Creative Spotlite is a good example of this. I also think some art courses on television can be a good way for beginning artists to see techniques in use and gain motivation.
Q - How do you get ideas to create a piece? What inspires you?
A - I rarely have an idea simply pop into my head; I usually have to view a scene, a picture or perhaps another artist's work in order to come up with something. Sometimes a poem, a play or a story may influence me.
Q - Are there any artists that have influenced you?
A - Since my subject matter is varied, so are my influences. Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Salvador Dali, even landscape artists from the Hudson River School and German Expressionists from the 1920's have all found their way into my art. I particularly admire the work of Caspar David Friedrich, a 19th century German painter who created moody, evocative landscapes.
Q - Do you have a website?
A - Yes. It can be found at http://charlesgriffith.tripod.com. Along with a selection of my artwork, the site also contains poetry that I have had published in recent years (I like a change of pace from time to time!) and the first of a series of art tutorials, which has also been published here by Creative Spotlite!
Q - Finally, do you have any last words of advice?
A - Staying motivated is a big problem sometimes. Getting recognition for your work helps a lot in this area--the Internet, in my view, is an unprecedented vehicle for exposure. And keep your goals realistic; few artists ever gain any great fame or fortune from their work. You have do it because you have something to say, and because art brings something of value to your life.
Click Here For an Article Written By Charles Entitled - "On Becoming an Artist"
Current Art Contests & Competitions
International Art Competitions
Current Workshop Listings
Drawing & Colored Pencil Workshops
Jewelry & Metalsmithing Workshops
Photography & Digital Imaging Workshops
Watercolor & Gouache Workshops
Product Spotlite
DVD - Watercolor - One-on-One Watercolor Workshops by Susan Harrison-Tustain
This 2-disc DVD set is a compilation of Susan Harrison-Tustain's two best-selling videos: Glorious Garden Flowers in Watercolor and One-on-One Watercolor Breakthroughs. It also includes an exquisite new gallery and slideshow featuring Susan's latest work, PLUS a bonus 33 minute tutorial demonstrating the essence of Susan's unique "naturalistic realism" style of watercolor painting.
Over 3½ hours of invaluable lessons and tips on 2 DVD's.
Disc One:
Contains the complete video Glorious Garden Flowers in Watercolor PLUS a bonus 33 minute tutorial and new gallery including Susan's latest work.A complete workshop on its own, but also a useful companion to Susan Harrison-Tustain's internationally best-selling book Glorious Garden Flowers in Watercolor.
In this tutorial Susan guides you, in great detail, through an exquisite study of the rose "Sally Holmes." You will learn the essential techniques required to produce stunning, detailed watercolor paintings of your own.
Disc Two:
Contains the complete video One-on-One Watercolor Workshop: Watercolor Breakthroughs PLUS an exquisite new self-paced gallery-slideshow including Susan's latest work.In Watercolor Breakthroughs Susan shows how her techniques, methods and favorite palette can be used to realistically portray any subject at all.
Watch as she reveals her solutions to many of the frequently asked questions from her group workshops. Enjoy one-on-one guidance, beginning with how to create atmospheric backgrounds - then follow Susan as she shows you her four essential elements to creating three dimensional form using a self-portrait of her own hands. Other lessons reveal Susan's methods for creating velvety textures and dew drops, vibrant shadows, captivating color, and much more.
Click here for customer reviews
Available on DVD